Wild Burger has been open for a while on Mount Pleasant just south of Eglinton, and is walking distance from my school. I hadn’t visited until today, but decided to finally go, mostly due to me seeing a tweet about them to remind me of their existence, proximity, and use of clean, local and organic ingredients.
Wild Burger is a locally owned and sustainable “Gastro-Burger” concept. I read that they plan to internationally franchise through a creative approach to the menu, and also their service, which was exceptional, very attentive, and super friendly. It’s sometimes disappointing to go somewhere with great food where the people are not nice, not welcoming and seem to not be excited about what they are doing – the entire Wild Burger team seemed to be very happy and grateful to have every guest there.
The interior is fun and colourful with license plates from every province hanging on the wall, which I guess reinforces their local and Canadian roots. Their menu offers a very diverse selection of burgers, with many items that I had never seen before. You should know that I was even stunned a bit to read that they had a kangaroo and a camel burger. I really eat more plants than anything, so will return to try the delicious sounding vegan burger based on lentils and chickpeas they feature. Their buns, a choice of white or whole wheat are organic, and very fresh. Although I was very disappointed to walk in and see that they serve Coke (and promote it with a big soft drink machine), since they promote the polar opposite type of food, I was beyond thrilled to see their box of house made condiments (no conventional Heinz to be found!). Maybe if enough of us demand better drink options they will make a change for the better. All of their housemade condiments were great, but their mustard aioli was a standout for me.
They have plenty of sides, including deep-fried pickles and beans, but I will go back to try these and the vegan burger, as I opted to try their Wild and Spicy Artisanal Beef Burger on this visit. A friend of mine ate an Elk Burger, and quite enjoyed it, and almost the whole restaurant was filled with happy looking hungry students. If this was cafeteria food, this would be a great step in the right direction!
It says on the Wild Burger website that they want people to leave with bigger smiles than they came in with – I did, and I think you will too.
